St Peter’s CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of St Peter's CofE Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 6 July 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings.

The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in September 2010. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

The school has experienced much change since that time, with a higher proportion of pupils now joining the school at differing times of the school year. You have a clear vision to achieve the very best for all pupils that is shared b...y staff. Regular meetings ensure that staff consistently focus upon the academic and pastoral needs of pupils, particularly the most vulnerable.

Leaders and governors have an accurate picture of the school's strengths and areas for development. You have addressed the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. The early years has improved through better planning and teaching.

In mathematics, pupils are achieving higher standards through improved teaching and a stronger focus on methods of calculation. You have worked well with middle leaders to build capacity. Coaching programmes and paired staffing arrangements have developed their abilities as leaders and they are now more effective in monitoring the quality of teaching and assessment.

Shared moderation with local schools enables teachers to have an accurate view of standards. Middle leaders are closely involved in reviewing pupil progress, although they are aware that further training is required to enable them to use new tracking systems for the revised national curriculum more precisely. The special educational needs coordinator has developed effective approaches that are used as a model of good practice by the local authority.

Pastoral leadership is similarly robust through systems that give a high profile to pupils' social and emotional welfare. Governors are committed to the school's development and have the appropriate expertise to hold leaders to account. They meet with increasing regularity to provide support and challenge for school leaders.

Governors' minutes show evidence of careful questioning of the impact of improvement strategies. Governors discussed the long-term plans for future development in considerable detail ahead of their decision to pursue academy conversion in the autumn of 2016. Safeguarding is effective.

The school actively promotes a culture of safeguarding, and pupil welfare lies at the heart of its actions. One parent wrote that this was a school where 'happiness, safety and welfare are paramount', and this was apparent throughout the inspection. Pastoral leaders work intensively with all staff to track the welfare of vulnerable pupils.

They also liaise closely with parents and carers to provide additional support. Staff and governors receive training on key safeguarding issues. Pupils feel safe and could talk about the actions that teachers take to help them to keep safe, such as their work on internet safety.

Inspection findings ? Teaching is enabling pupils to make good progress. Staff plan imaginative lessons with tasks that encourage pupils to engage in both independent and group work. Class teachers work closely with teaching assistants to plan learning that meets pupils' needs.

Good-quality teaching in the classroom is supported by effective interventions with specialist teachers used to develop speech and reading. Effective questioning in English lessons encourages pupils to select more evocative adjectives, while in many lessons pupils are encouraged to read aloud and share ideas. In the majority of cases, teachers' verbal and written feedback supports pupils' progress, although some teachers do not follow the school's marking and assessment policy closely enough and this can slow progress in some classes.

• Leaders are using a range of initiatives to improve provision and outcomes for key groups. As a result of better planning and support, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are making better progress in Reception and in key stage 1. Although this group of pupils made slower progress last year at key stage 2, they are now making improved progress.

Close monitoring and effective support for disadvantaged pupils eligible for the pupil premium is enabling them to make good progress. Despite some dips in progress in mathematics in 2015, a higher proportion of disadvantaged pupils achieved the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics in 2016 than all pupils nationally. Pastoral leaders have worked with families to support the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and as a result their attendance is better than that of similar groups nationally.

The most able pupils are achieving better outcomes. The proportion of most able pupils achieving Level 5 or above in reading, writing and mathematics in 2015 was above that achieved by the most able nationally, and current progress is good. Despite these improvements, some pupils said that they would welcome further challenge.

• Reading is a central focus in the curriculum. Breadth and balance is achieved by linking fiction and non-fiction texts to themes that inform study across a range of subjects. In Year 6, pupils' study of the second world war is being used to provoke poetry and historical reflection while the novel Kensuke's Kingdom prompted geographical investigation.

In English, many activities develop the use of ambitious vocabulary and more complex sentence constructions. In mathematics, pupils are developing their understanding of more rigorous calculation methods. Curriculum opportunities to extend learning in science, geography and history are not as strong as those in English and mathematics.

The school's Christian character provides regular opportunities to encourage pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, in assembly, pupils linked the biblical story of Daniel's willingness to sacrifice his life for his religious beliefs to Nelson Mandela's willingness to sacrifice liberty for racial equality. ? In 2016, the proportion of children in the early years achieving a good level of development improved for the third successive year.

While this figure remains below that achieved nationally, progress is good as many children arrive with knowledge, skills and abilities that are below those typical for their age. In September 2015, 19 children required intensive speech and language support but by the end of the year 16 had made significant progress. Leaders use regular checks on children's progress to help them plan activities that meet children's needs and interests.

As a result standards have improved. Partnerships with early years experts have led to improvements in the learning environment both indoors and outdoors, with further enhancements to learning already planned. Children's concentration has improved, as was evident in the sustained focus they demonstrated in their transition lesson with their new Year 1 teacher.

• Pupils are very polite and show respect for one another and adults. Classrooms have a purposeful atmosphere, with pupils across all phases demonstrating a high level of concentration on learning. Pupils are encouraged to work independently and share ideas through paired discussion and reviews of one another's work.

In assembly, pupils listened attentively, responded to questions and joined in enthusiastically with singing activities. Pupils believe that overall behaviour is good, and this view was confirmed by the orderly atmosphere in classrooms and on corridors. On the rare occasions when bullying occurs, pupils report that teachers address it effectively.

• The headteacher is strengthening leadership at all levels. An ongoing programme of professional development is equipping middle leaders with the skills to monitor teaching and the quality of work in pupils' books. She has employed coaches to work with leaders and teachers to support their emotional well-being and personal development.

Middle leaders have an accurate understanding of the quality of literacy and numeracy work in pupils' books. Their ability to use emerging tracking systems to monitor pupils' progress is less developed. Teachers have a clear understanding of improvement goals and share a collective commitment to achieve the very best for all pupils.

Leaders work effectively with the local authority and neighbouring schools to share good practice. ? Governors share the headteacher's ambition for further improvement. They regularly review their skills to ensure that they have the ability to continually challenge leaders.

They have an increasing presence at the school. Governors have good links with the community and communicated closely with parents ahead of their aim to pursue further improvement through academy conversion in the autumn term. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? the curriculum is strengthened to provide further depth in science, history and geography ? all staff follow the school assessment policy ? middle leaders develop their skills so that they are able to use the school's system to track pupils' progress more effectively.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the diocese of Lincoln, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for North East Lincolnshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Malcolm Kirtley Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you, senior leaders and middle leaders.

I also met the chair of governors. I undertook learning walks with you and your deputy headteacher and visited all classes. I looked at pupils' work along with middle leaders.

I held meetings with groups of pupils. I examined the school improvement plan as well as other documents, including the school's self-evaluation, assessment information and records of attendance. I also looked at the school's system for tracking pupils' attainment and progress and documents relating to interventions.

I scrutinised safeguarding documents, including the single central record. I took into account 10 responses to the online Parent View questionnaire, along with 10 free text responses. I also considered 31 responses to the online pupil questionnaire and 27 responses to the online staff questionnaire.

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