St Paul’s and All Hallows CofE Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Paul's and All Hallows CofE Infant School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love to be part of this friendly and welcoming school. They described their teachers as kind and caring.

Warm relationships between staff and pupils are firmly rooted in the school's ethos. All are treated with kindness and respect. Adults ensure that this is a happy and safe place for pupils to learn.

Pupils are proud of their school motto: 'Learning to love. Loving to learn.' This resonates through the school.

Pupils enjoy coming to school in the morning. The curriculum is typically engaging and ambitious. In class, pupils work well with thei...r peers and are enthusiastic about their learning.

Behaviour in lessons is positive and respectful.

Leaders are committed to ensuring that this is an inclusive school. All pupils learn well, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils.

Staff have high expectations of all pupils from an early age.

Pupils have trust in staff and said that there is always an adult to talk to and help them. Bullying is rare and is never tolerated.

Staff quickly resolve any problems that arise.

Parents and carers speak highly about the school. They appreciate the work of leaders and staff to create a supportive and nurturing environment for their children.

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

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum from the early years onwards. In each subject, the content of the curriculum is planned to give pupils a good start to their education. Pupils enjoy learning a wide range of subjects and, as a result, achieve well.

Leaders prioritise reading. They have put a clear programme in place to teach early reading. Phonics is taught daily from the beginning.

Staff are clear about what sounds they expect pupils to know and be able to remember each term. Adults provide extra phonics lessons and support for pupils who need it. Pupils who struggle to read catch up quickly.

Staff receive regular training to ensure that phonics and reading are taught consistently well. Leaders ensure that pupils read with confidence before they start in Year 3. Leaders also promote reading for pleasure across the school.

Teachers read stories and poems to pupils daily. Pupils select their favourite story at the end of the week to review. This encourages pupils to develop a love of reading.

Leaders plan the curriculum well. For example, in mathematics in the early years, staff use music and song to help to develop children's counting and number skills. Teachers check regularly if there are any concepts that pupils have not fully grasped.

Pupils recall and revisit previous learning before moving on to learn something new. This helps them to deepen their understanding. As a result, pupils achieve well across the curriculum.

In most subjects, such as science, leaders have set out clearly the key information that pupils must learn. This includes the important vocabulary that pupils should know and understand. However, in other subjects, such as history and geography, leaders are still in the process of strengthening curriculum plans and establishing the subject-specific vocabulary that pupils need.

Leaders have introduced a new personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) curriculum. This is designed to give pupils a reassuring space where they can express their feelings. Pupils learn about personal safety in PSHE.

This contributes well to leaders' work to help pupils to feel safe. Lessons are also planned to develop pupils' spoken language skills. Leaders are ambitious to develop pupils' speaking and listening skills further.

The school is inclusive. There are high expectations for all, including those pupils with SEND. Leaders identify and support pupils with specific difficulties early on, including in the Nursery and Reception classes.

All pupils follow school rules and low-level disruption to lessons is rare. Teachers make sure that all pupils learn well in the classroom.

Members of the trust board and the local governing body are ambitious for the school and its pupils.

They receive regular information from the headteacher and subject leaders to strengthen their understanding and oversight of the curriculum. Governors and leaders consider staff workload. Staff were unanimous that leaders take care of their well-being.

This is appreciated by staff.

Pupils' wider development is well planned for. Pupils take part in a range of extra-curricular activities and trips.

For example, pupils enjoyed a recent trip to the Museum of London. They also spoke enthusiastically about a range of visitors and their learning about diversity, for instance when celebrating Black History Month.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Keeping pupils safe is a high priority at this school. Leaders and governors know their local community well. There are clear policies and procedures in place to promote pupils' welfare.

Staff are well trained and know what to do if they think a pupil may be at risk of harm. Leaders respond quickly to any safeguarding concerns. Leaders work well with external agencies to support pupils and their families.

Pupils learn about personal safety in assemblies and PSHE. Pupils feel safe in and around the school and know who to talk to if they have any concerns.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few subjects, for instance history and geography, some curriculum leaders need support in planning their subjects to ensure that pupils' knowledge and understanding deepens fully over time.

However, it is clear from leaders' actions that they have plans in place to offer appropriate training to staff, and in turn strengthen the curriculum further in these subjects. Leaders should continue this work. ? Leaders need to further develop pupils' speaking and listening skills.

Occasionally, pupils do not use subject-specific words correctly. Leaders need to ensure that all curriculum plans include the words and vocabulary that they want pupils to understand and remember.

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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in December 2016.