St Peter’s Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Peter's Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

The school motto, 'Growing together in mind, body and spirit', underpins all the school does. It is evident in how pupils learn through the academic, character and enrichment curriculum and how they conduct themselves around the school.

Securing respectful and nurturing relationships is central to this. Staff know pupils well. This helps pupils to feel safe.

Pupils understand the high expectations leaders have for their behaviour and attitudes to learning. They say that adults support their peers well if they struggle in class. Consequently, there is little dis...ruption to learning.

Pupils value the range of opportunities leaders provide for them to take on responsibilities. These include roles such as Year 5 buddies for children in Reception, school leaders and eco champions. Pupils fulfil these roles wholeheartedly.

It increases their confidence and self-awareness.

The positive conduct of pupils continues into playtimes. Pupils develop their physical health and play together well.

Pupils show resilience and empathy when managing 'fall-outs'. They resolve them quickly between themselves. Leaders enable this to happen by modelling a restorative approach to maintaining friendships.

Pupils know what bullying is. They learn strategies to deal with incidents when they occur. Staff sort out any problems quickly.

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

There is an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum in place for most subjects. This starts in early years and continues through to Year 6. Leaders have an accurate view of the school's strengths and areas that need to develop further.

They know that there are some subjects where the curriculum is not as well embedded. There are clear plans in place to ensure that pupils learn more successfully in all subjects.

Subject leaders are knowledgeable about the subjects they are responsible for.

They monitor their subject areas well. Leaders are responsive to staff training requirements.They adapt the curriculum each year to meet the different needs of pupils.

Teaching in Nursery and Reception enables children to develop their physical development, language and communication, and early mathematics skills well. Adults carefully consider opportunities for learning. Their interactions with children have maximum impact on their development.

This prepares children well for learning in Year 1 and beyond.

There is a whole-school culture of prioritising reading. The teaching of early reading is well organised.

Leaders make sure that staff are trained so that they know how to teach phonics effectively. Children learn phonics right from the start. When pupils fall behind, staff skilfully identify what further help they need.

They provide support to enable pupils to keep up. Older pupils enjoy reading and confidently talk about authors and genres they like to read. Staff read to pupils regularly and pupils have access to a wide variety of texts.

This includes texts that promote diversity. Teachers celebrate reading and are keen to promote it.

Pupils in key stages 1 and 2 talk confidently and enthusiastically about their learning.

Leaders have made sure that the curriculum in core subjects, such as mathematics and English, details the important knowledge that pupils need to learn from early years onwards. This ensures that pupils build on what they already know and helps them to remember more over time. Leaders know that there is still work to do in some subjects in the wider curriculum.

Teachers check pupils' learning effectively to inform their teaching and to identify misconceptions. They are knowledgeable about how learning can be adapted to meet the needs of most pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, as leaders seek to further improve the provision for pupils with SEND, there are some pupils who do not yet have the precise and targeted support they need to overcome their barriers to learning.

These pupils are not able to learn as successfully as they could.

Staff promote pupils' personal development extensively. They ensure that pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, develop their independence and resilience.

Examples include teaching about mental health, a strong commitment to the local community, environmental issues and regular trips. Leaders offer a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities. Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged and those with SEND, attend well.

Staff appreciate the actions that leaders take in relation to their workload. Governors know the school and its current strengths well. They are fully aware of what leaders are working on.

Governors provide suitable challenge to leaders. They ensure that improvements are rapid and there is no complacency.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff know pupils and their families well. As a result, they are quick to notice and respond to any concerns or worries. Leaders follow up concerns and act on these quickly.

Good use is made of external support when appropriate. All staff are well trained and receive regular and up-to-date safeguarding information. They talk about the impact training has on improving their practice.

Recruitment procedures are thorough.

The curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to gain the knowledge they need to keep themselves safe in different circumstances. This includes leading a healthy lifestyle, maintaining a respectful relationship and keeping safe online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders' recent work to develop the curriculum has not yet been fully implemented across some subject areas. As a result, in some subjects, pupils do not learn as well as they could. Leaders need to ensure that the curriculum in all subjects is fully embedded and sequenced so that pupils know and remember more over time.

• The leadership of SEND has recently changed. While leaders have a clear understanding of what needs to be done to ensure that all pupils with SEND can successfully learn the same ambitious curriculum as their peers, for some pupils this is not yet fully in place. They do not have the precise and targeted support they need to overcome barriers to learning.

As a result, they do not learn as well as they could. Leaders need to quickly put in place the changes they have planned for and ensure that they check the impact and success of their decisions and actions.

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 April 2013.